4080 - Curt Großpietsch, attributed, Jay

Curt Großpietsch, attributed, Jay A jay lying on a blue cloth with outstretched wings; a slightly impasto-like depiction of the bird in bold colours; oil on canvas, mid-20th century, minor imperfections, unframed, dimensions approx. 50.5 x 42.5 cm. Artist information: German painter and graphic artist (1893, Leipzig - 1980, Dresden), member of the ASSO; trained as a varnisher in his father’s business whilst, from 1905 to 1911, attending courses at the Leipzig School of Applied Arts; 1911-14: studied at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts under Robert Sterl, Richard Müller and Oskar Zwintscher; formed friendships with Otto Dix and George Grosz whilst there, 1914-19: served as a soldier in the First World War, sustaining serious injuries at times; continued his studies under Otto Gußmann until 1923; from 1921, a member of the artists’ group ‘Die Schaffenden’, 1930-33: Member of the ASSO; from 1933: Member of the NSDAP; as a clerk at the Dresden Kunstkammer, he caused numerous documents belonging to colleagues to disappear, thereby saving them from reprisals; after 1945: worked as a freelance artist in Dresden, Source: Vollmer, Eisold, *Künstler in der DDR* and Wikipedia.